PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Public Warnings of Impending Severe Storms (26 January 1990)

That this House condemns the failure of the Government to ensure that full public warnings were given of the special hazards to be aware of and avoided if possible in a storm of the intensity of that which swept Britain on Thursday 25th January; believes that the Government has failed to learn the lessons of the previous hurricane, and must accept considerable responsibility for Thursday's injuries and traffic chaos; invites Ministers to study the warnings issued by television and radio in the United States of America when a hurricane is threatening, despite the fact that Americans are more familiar with the dangers of severe storms; rejects as unacceptable the Minister's assertion that it is enough that the Government warns emergency services and police authorities and then leaves it to the individual police authorities to decide what local warnings to issue; believes that when a storm of that magnitude threatens all or major parts of the country the Government has a duty to ensure that full and frequent warnings are carried on television and radio; and deplores that the Government completely failed to do this.

Sponsored by:
Mr Alan Williams (Labour)